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TIBET
by David Sharp

Tibet and things or persons Tibetan are very popular these days and since its been some forty years since the riots in Llasa and subsequent Chinese takeover, I suppose it’s about time. A “Free Tibet” bumper sticker does very little however, to assuage the fact of over one million Tibetans killed, the cutting down of Tibet’s vast forests, its plateaus and rivers polluted with nuclear waste and a majority of the over six thousand monasteries gutted or destroyed. All of this may be forgiven but not three Hollywood movies on Tibet due in one year! Now with reported sightings of saffron robed monks in downtown Santa Rosa as well as in much of the West, I suppose one must acknowledge the inevitable: death, taxes and the gratuitous record review.

YUNGCHEN LHAMO TIBET TIBET

Thanks to Copperfields Records and Book Store in Montgomery Village, I was able to snag a fresh copy of Tibetan music by YUNGCHEN LHAMO from the cd “Yungchen Lhamo-- Tibet Tibet” (Carol/Real World). This is contemplative, mournful and sometimes liturgical music that falls somewhere between the simplicity of SHEILA CHANDRA and the exotic YMA SUMAC. Her music evokes a sense of the American Indian in its language, poetry and linguistic delivery. Some of these songs are LHAMO’S originals. Others are based on traditional themes like the “Refuge Prayer” known to all Buddhists and the most important Buddhist chant of all, the “Om Mani Padme Hung”.

Nary a synthesizer nor a Western instrument is heard on this cd unless one includes mandolin. The only Tibetan-sleigh-of-hand is a sparse electronic interspersing of ritual chants by the monks from the Drepung Ngakpa Monastery and the Gyuto Tantric College both in Delhi, India. A couple of tracks do include the dranyem, a traditional stringed instrument, but its mostly YUNGCHEN LHAMO”s vocals that make this RealWorld release such a treat. Her authentic Tibetan songs about yearning for home in Tibet and devotional songs to the DALAI LAMA includes just the right touch of Late Western Empire studio wizardry. Just another collection of Buddhist religious chants it is not. What little ritual chants are used on this compilation only supply a flavor not the substance.

Buy this cd for a glimpse of the Tibetan language sung with sweetness and devotion by this 25 year old Himalayan artist. Or better yet. Give it away to one of your Buddhist friends as a holiday gift They will not only appreciate this but you may be able to accumulate virtuous merit through the practice of your generosity.

SACRED CEREMONIES (RITUAL MUSIC OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM)

About the time the city was planning to dig up my quiet street and strangers were about to occupy the vacant house next door, I received SACRED CEREMONIES VOLUME THREE, RITUAL MUSIC OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM (Celestial Harmonies). To my delight I opened up recordings of powerful prayers and declarations to provide protection, energy and power from negative forces. I recommend track two, “Kala-Rupa”, which encompasses a half-hour of throat chanting, clanging cymbals, bells and enough powerful Himalayan horn blowing to out gun a battalion of tubas even on an inauspicious day and have enough juice left over to rattle your neighbor’s karma . Noticing that the Buddhist prayer flags I had recently installed were not flapping hard enough, I jammed my JBL speakers through the windows while blaring forth this sacred music like the calling of an Islamic muezzin from Teheran as I tried to calm the forces of the municipal water works and the roar of the moving men’s trucks.

To my surprise the fourth track “Parchen Truk” is sung or maybe the correct word here is chanted in a languid style, more like that of a ballad with accompanying temple bells. Once again I was haunted by comparisons between Tibetan and the Native-American language as my mind peered through the cobwebs of ignorance, remembering something about high school history lectures on land bridges and the cross- culturalization between our continent and Asia.

This is not the kind of music I would buy my girlfriend for our anniversary present but would consider giving this to anyone who gets misty eyed for Dharamsala, India as you sample yet another batch of tsampa until they get it right. At least the vibes were right because this cd is superbly recorded on location in the THE DIP TSE CHOK LING monastery by DAVID AND KAY PARSONS.

I am sorry this music was not able to keep the Chinese out of Tibet or prevent my neighborhood from being ravished by the forces of change. However, I can’t help but wonder if without this beautiful and powerful musical chant, things would have been worse. The next time you’re shopping for tennis shoes for the kids dust off this old Zen koan. What do tennis shoes not made in China look like? Support the Tibetan refugees! Boycott Chinese goods...if you can!

If you would like to listen to some of this music, tune into “Music International” on KBBF FM Santa Rosa 89.1 Sunday evenings from 7:00 ‘til midnight with music hosts Camilo Olmos, David Sharp, and Jim Mullins. Your comments are welcome. You can write in care of this column: dhsharp 645@aol.com.